Matcha Ocha / Matcha Green Tea Powder

Hello Loves! Over the last month, I have been thoroughly enjoying making my very own Matcha lattes here at home. Morning & afternoon, homemade almond milk matcha tea lattes have become an (almost) daily ritual. Matcha has been an obsession of mine for the last year, so when Matcha Ocha, which translates to Matcha Tea in Japanese, reached out offering to send a sample of their Ceremonial Grade Matcha Powder, you better believe I jumped at the opportunity to give it a try! Over the last year, I’ve been enjoying (uhmmm, addicted to?) Matcha Lattes at a local vegan spot, Luna’s Living Kitchen, but at $7 a pop, I’ve kind of made myself cut [way] back on this expensive, but oh-so yummy, habit of mine.

If you’ve yet to give Matcha a try or have never even heard of it, here are a few fun facts about this vibrant, gorgeous green health boosting powder:– jam-packed with antioxidants, ECGC, in particular — it contains more antioxidants than goji berries, blueberries, pomegranates & Acai berries. – boosts metabolism + burns calories & fat– ENERGY! get a boost of energy without the coffee crash and/or headache– loaded with chlorophyll, Matcha is known to detoxify your body of chemicals & heavy metals– contains the amino acid, L-theanine, which leads to better focus & concentration + preserves your memory

Since I’ve been sampling Matcha Ocha, I have, here & there, skipped my extra cup of coffee in the morning in place for a matcha latte but most of all, I’ve been enjoying a matcha latte at home pretty much every day that my schedule allows.. My body craves some type of caffeine mid/late afternoon. I am highly caffeinated person!! (haha) I try to stay away from more coffee in the afternoons and go for a cup of green tea & now my matcha tea. Matcha gives me such a different type of energy boost — its clean, without jitters or that coffee crash and most importantly, doesn’t keep me up at night! (don’t mess with my sleep!)

Aside from the caffeine part, I’m pretty obsessed with the health benefits associated with this powerful green powder! I LOVE knowing that every time I make a cup of matcha I’m doing my body good — giving it a mega dose of antioxidants + vitamins & minerals like magnesium, selenium, zinc & Vitamin C & detoxifying in the process!

So, you must be wondering how the heck do you go about making your own matcha tea latte at home, right!? This has become my method & it works pretty awesome!

The first couple times I made my latte, I simply added boiled water to my cup containing about 1/2-1 teaspoon of matcha powder and gave it a good stirring, using a spoon & then fill the rest of my cup up with almond milk. This method was eh, ok, but I wasn’t really getting the desired effect. The matcha powder was clumping at the bottom of my cup and not mixing/dissolving well – at all! I wanted it to be smooth, rich & creamy, and frothy! Ya know, like when I order up a $7 latte. Instead, all the matcha powder was clumped and settling at the bottom of my cup and you I definitely was getting that pretty green color. Side Note: I have tried a different matcha powder that I bought at Healthy Home Market ( I don’t remember the brand name ) but the color and taste were dull & bland + it did the same clumping thing. Matcha Ocha is incredibly smooth, the color is so rich & beautiful + the flavor really is amazing! My Matcha Ocha powder didn’t come with one of those whisks you often see with all those Matcha pictures floating around Instagram…So! I started searching around the kitchen to see what gadgets I could use to really up the ante on my matcha making! Enter, the immersion blender! A real matcha game changer!This is how I do it…and wind up with a perfectly smooth and so delicious Matcha Tea Latte, every time! drop about 1/2-1 teaspoon of Matcha Powder in my cuppour in about 1/4 boiled watersubmerge the immersion blender into your cup & pulse, pulse, pulse. If you just hold the button down & let it go all out…your cup will definitely runneth over. meanwhile…my unsweetened vanilla almond milk is warming on the stove. I use a butter warmer to warm my almond milk every day of my life. last, I add my warmed almond milk to my cup of matcha, give it a stir and voilà, your matcha is ready to sip & enjoy! xx